Pumpkin Pecan No-Knead Bread

I really love bread.  I feel like I need to just come right out and say that because we have another no-knead bread recipe here.  If I really love bread, then I really, really, really love no-knead bread. It's just so easy peasy, your house smells FANTASTIC and you have yummy bread to gorge on.  What's not to love really?  

I embraced the season and made a pumpkin version similar to the Guinness Cherry Pecan bread I made earlier this year.   This pumpkin bread is not remotely similar to a sweet smushy pumpkin quick bread but rather like those big crusty loaves of raisin pecan artisan loaves you find in the bakery.  It's pretty fantastic fresh but even better toasted up with some cinnamony fruit butter.  It's definitely a perfect snack after an early morning walk through fall colors. 

Behold, Pike's Peak.  See it?  That snowy peak way, way, way back there?  I bought a new guide book and saw that a photo of this open space that had phenomenal view of Pikes Peak.  

I checked the book again after the walk....they tricked us by using a telephoto lens.   Still a lovely walk anyway. 

This particular walk was a little experiment to see if Brooklyn could potentially be normal around big dogs.  Since the attack, my formerly angelic and ultra-submissive dog goes into full-on Cujo mode anytime she sees a big dog.   Her behavior is so over-the-top that strangers take to crossing the street rather than passing us on the sidewalk.  The other day a woman with a German Shepherd left the path and crossed a field in order to avoid my crazy snarling dog with her dripping gnashing teeth.  Yeah, I see a few puppy PTSD sessions  in our future.

I was hoping that maybe an easy way to re-introduce her to big dogs would be to meet up with a big dog she already knew.  We went ultra-big in this case...go big or go home right?

Can you find the peek-a-boo Boston in this picture?  Love that face. 

Yeah. Turns out she's just fine with her BFF.  

Being crazy is exhausting.

So the pumpkin bread.  You know a recipe will be A-OK when it starts out like this.  

Same overnight process as the other no-knead breads.  I love how bubbly and yeasty and yummy it looks and smells in the morning.

I baked this in my 4.5 quart cast iron pan and found it required a bit more baking time.  This recipe is slightly bigger than the other ones so recommend using a 5.5 quart pan if you have one.  The recipe below assumes you do...if using a smaller one, you'll want to cook for at least an additional 10-15  minutes covered.  Bread is done when it sounds hollow when you knock on it.  And of course, bread  is delicious when you eat it.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pecan No-Knead Bread

1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup water
1 tbsp yeast
1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1tsp salt
4 cups flour plus additional for working surface

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together pumpkin puree and water until smooth.  Add remaining ingredients except pecans and cranberries and stir well to combine. 
2. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or plate and set aside for 12-18 hours or overnight. 
3. Heat oven to 450 degrees. 
4. Heat pecans in skillet over medium high heat, shaking pan often to prevent burning.   Remove from heat when pecans are lightly toasted.  Set aside. 
5. When the oven has reached 450 degrees place a 5.5 quart cast iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 25 minutes. 
6. While the oven and pan is preheating, add cranberries and pecans to dough and stir well. 
7. Dump dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball. Let rest until pan is ready.
8. Remove hot pan from the oven and carefully drop dough into ungreased pan. 
9. Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes. 
10. After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. 
11. Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack. Let cool before slicing

Burlap Autumn Wreath

It's been awhile since I've crafted anything and with fall quickly coming upon us, I felt the need for a little autumn goodness. 

I'd planned on doing quite a bit of baking yesterday as I was going to have friends over for the Broncos game today.  We had a little incident though that changed our weekend plans....Brooklyn had a stay at the Animal Emergency Hospital and I abandoned her there for a bit (so hard to do) and headed out for a little human medical care.  

My poor puppy.  

Brooklyn and I were out for a walk and I'd intentionally chosen to head back via the route in front of the houses rather than back through the greenbelt we'd started on.  The fences were low and there were a couple of big dogs who came awfully close to coming right over the top of the fence when they saw us.  How can people expect hip height fences to keep dogs in?  You'd think the front of the houses would be safer right? 

Not so much.  

Three large dogs hanging out inside the front door of their house saw one awfully cute Boston Terrier and all hell broke loose.  They opened the door (seriously, these dogs opened their own glass storm door) came flying out and within seconds were on top of Brooklyn.  They say you are not supposed to interrupt a dog fight, but this was really more of a mauling...300 lbs vs 20 lbs is hardly a fight.  I do know that jumping into a pile of riled up lab-pit mix and Bernese Mtn dogs is far from wise but if you see a dog grab your pup by the throat and hear the screams and cries coming from your dog,  you don't really care about what you are or are not supposed to do.  I was right in the middle and by the time the owners  came out and pried their 3 dogs away and had control of them, it was a bit of a bloodbath. 

Luckily there was no damage requiring surgery--Brooklyn's harness was ripped to shreds but she was able to limp around at the hospital.  I walked away with just a sprain.  

As the dogs' owner kept assuring me over and over (while bleeding himself) that his dogs with their blood-soaked fangs did not have a single vicious bone in their bodies (huh?), I was struck by how quickly and easily this attack happened.  These dogs were inside their house and seconds later were on top of Brooklyn...no warning, no heads-up growling, no obvious impetus--just a full force attack.    There were at least 2 mothers on the street walking their babies in strollers--so much for safety in your own neighborhood. Brooklyn's getting a kevlar harness next.  

This is a dog on drugs.  Along with her IV and meds, they gave her a "valium cocktail" at the hospital.  No one offered me one.   

What else can I write after that story?  Not much and as it turns out, I don't have a lot to add to the below photos anyway because I can't actually explain how I made this wreath.  I bought the below wire and and pipe cleaner wreath form at Hobby Lobby for about $3 (40% off their holiday items almost every week). I bought burlap ribbon because I am not ambitious enough to cut strips of burlap.  Ribbon is also a lot less messy.   I ended up using about 12 yards of burlap ribbon (on sale for 50% off or about $6 total) and just started pulling loops through the wire form and wrapping them with the pipe cleaner.  

I searched Google and Pinterest for instructions on making this and couldn't find any that made sense to me even with photos.  It was mostly trial and error but it really is just about pulling loops through and fastening them.  

I've seen much fuller versions and if I had more ribbon, I might have used more but it turned out full enough for my liking. 

I used one roll of ribbon all the way around and then went back with the second roll and filled in the gaps.

I attached a couple of fall berry picks and made accent flowers from orange burlap ribbon.  This is just twisting the ribbon and rolling into a flower----with a lot of hot glue along the way.  I attached the flowers by pulling one of the pipe cleaners through the back of the flower and then securing with hot glue as well. 

 I'm not much of a seasonal decorator outside of Christmas, but have to say that a little rustic burlap on the door does make it all seem quite autumnal. This wreath would also look great on a securely locked, dog-proof door. 

Not Quite Pecan Pie

Hope you all had the happiest Thanksgiving and a well deserved 4 day weekend!    It's still surprising to me how much menu planning and prep goes into the day and how quickly the meal comes and goes. 

Puppies may sit for pictures in front of Christmas trees, but they really prefer Thanksgiving.  Yes, puppies LOVE Thanksgiving. 

Like many of you, I planned my ingredients for the Thanksgiving cooking and baking extravaganza.  Somewhere in the process of putting groceries away, ingredients are bound to get lost in this house and this time it was the pecans.  You would think that an ingredient as important as pecans would be sheltered and cared for right around Thanksgiving time...since pecan pie is essential Thanksgiving eats in my mind.  Once a year that overly-sweet pie tastes just perfect after a little turkey and mashed potatoes.

Somehow, I managed to misplace those pecans so thoroughly that I had to come up with a  backup plan that didn't involve the running out to the craziness of grocery stores the night before Thanksgiving. 

A little internet searching and I found a recipe from Christy at Southern Plate for a pecan-free pecan pie  Yep, pecan pie made without pecans.  

Even better, pecan pie made with pretzels instead of pecans.  Genius. 

The idea that pretzels coated with butter and sugar could replace pecans seemed a little daring to me, but have to say I loved, loved, loved this--maybe even as much as pecan pie. I used my own favorite maple pecan pie recipe and then topped it with the pretzel recipe from Christy's blog.  The result was a pie that was almost indistinguishable from real pecan pie--the only giveaway was that some of the larger pretzel pieces gave a crunchy cookie texture to some bites(which I kind of really liked).  No one else had a clue that it didn't have pecans in it until I told them.  Really.   Shocking right?  This is definitely a make again recipe--maybe pecan pie will become a twice a year affair. 

Look what I found after the pie was cooling.  Of course. 

Faux Pecan Pie

adapted from Southern Plate

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

Pie filling ingredients:
1 c pure maple syrup
1/3 c packed brown sugar

1/3 c white sugar
3 large eggs
4 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

"Pecan" topping:
1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
3 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and prepare pie crust.
2. Whisk together pie filling ingredients in large mixing bowl until well combined.
3. Pour into pie shell.
4. For topping, combine all ingredients in medium bowl and stir well to coat pretzels.
5. Sprinkle topping evenly over pie.
6. Bake in 350 oven for 1 hour, covering with foil halfway through baking if needed to prevent over browning.
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before serving. (Best made day before serving

Breckenridge in the Fall

It's hard to believe that the leaves have fallen so fast.  It seems like I was eagerly anticipating the leaves changing colors and then today I looked outside and noticed that most of the trees are naked....the landscapers didn't even leave them on the ground for awhile.  Sad indeed. 

I did get a chance to spend a weekend up in a Breckenridge a few weekends ago with some friends.  The Colorado Rockies miss all of those vibrant colors that other areas see during fall, but we sure do have yellow aspens everywhere.  

While we stayed in Breckenridge, we did head over to Frisco the first morning.  We could pretend it was for the foliage or the cuteness of the town, but really it wasn't.

It was for important things like brekkie at the Butterhorn.  If you are in the area, they have a phenomenal breakfast...and even lunch.  This was the first restaurant Brooklyn ever had lunch at. Yes she did--10 week old puppies are allowed on restaurant patios because who can say no to puppies? 

After breakfast we headed up for a little offroading.  So, epic fail here.  Number 14 on my 101 on 1001 was to drive my Honda to 100,000.  Well, she's only at 43K and look who came to live at my house.  This is the before picture...such shiny tires.  

And this is her initiation into the great outdoors.  

Luckily I had some help...who knew offroading actually required more than accelerating and braking?  Well it definitely does...I heard many, many hours of "accelerate, brake, left, right, left, coast, up on the clutch, put your clutch in, let your clutch all the way out...yes without accelerating, left, crawl, shift into 3rd just as you hit the puddle."   Sometimes I even needed some extra help and direction.  Brave man to guide from the front of the vehicle. 

 I'm pretty sure I'll need a few more lessons but I have to admit, I kind of want to drive over the tops of curbs and medians all the time.   

After the mental exhaustion of driving over the top of things, we walked through downtown Breckenridge. I believe they started making snow pretty recently at some of the resorts--but I love the town just as much in the summer and fall as in the winter.

The world's cutest little Starbucks on main street in Breck. 

Boston Terrier Pumpkin Fun

My parents both have fall birthdays so my sister and I schemed to fly them in to visit us and blogging(cooking really) has taken a back burner while they are in town.  We're heading out to Cali this weekend for a bit-o-walking-on-the-beach-time.  I'll leave you with this fun BHG site that has tons of free dog breed stencil just in case you haven't already found the site.  Word of advice: pay particular attention to the eyes before you start just chopping pumpkin away.

Surely I won't be giving up my day job soon.

Yep, dogs on pumpkins.  It's genius really.

Brooklyn says "peace out peeps."  Have a great weekend all!

Chipotle Pumpkin Soup

Last pumpkin post...for a little bit at least.  I have quite an assortment of squashes begging to be cooked up. 

This one's another savory recipe....and it feels pretty rich and decadent while eating it.  I actually felt guilty after  finishing up my bowl and then realized I'd just eaten a pretty healthy bowl of pumpkin, veggies and broth.  It's based on the idea of the much-loved butternut soup classic, but with some southwestern flavors and heat.

Yes, tomatillos.

Actually roast the onions at the same time but I didn't add them to the photo. 

For the pumpkin I chose the kabocha below which is one of my all time favorite squashes/pumpkins.  I think kabocha is a general term for pumpkin in japanese, but it's been a really, really long time since I studied japanese.  Regardless, I love the flavor and its availability pretty much all year long at the asian market. Slice it into pieces without removing the rind, toss with coconut oil, salt and pepper and roast.  It is so fantastic that Brooklyn and I fight over the cold leftovers straight from the fridge. 

For this recipe though, the pumpkin needs to be peeled and chopped.  Not the most fun activity, but so worth the effort.  Add a box (or 2 14 oz cans) of chicken broth and cook until the pumpkin is tender(about 15 mins). 

I realized after I took the whole food processor step that it was unnecessary as I was going to blitz the entire soup with my stick blender.  

Add the chipotle,  tomatillos, tomatoes, onions and garlic to the cooked pumpkin and broth and then use a stick blender to puree.  

Serve with yogurt, avocados and some tortillas on the side--I love these Trader Joes Veggie Flaxseed tortillas.  Croutons or thick crusty bread would also be fantastic.

And since I've been on a "short version/long version" of the past few recipes, I'll continue.  I'm guessing you could do a short version of the soup with 2 cups of canned pumpkin puree instead of using fresh pumpkin.  Add it to the broth and the roasted vegetables, puree and cook for 10 minutes.

Chipotle Pumpkin Soup

2 lb kabocha pumpkin (or any pie pumpkin)

1 lb tomatillos

1/2 lb tomatoes

1 head of garlic, top cut off

1/2 medium red onion, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1-2 canned chipotles plus sauce

salt and pepper to taste

avocado (optional)

Chips or bread for serving

1. Turn oven to broiler setting and set rack to middle row of oven.
2. Cut tomatillos and tomatoes in half and place on baking sheet.  Add onions and garlic and drizzle with olive oil.  Roast on middle rack for 10 minutes
3. Peel and cut pumpkin into 1/2 inch cubes. Add chicken broth and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes or until pumpkin is fork tender
4. Add roasted tomatillos, tomatoes (should slip out of their skins), and onions to pumpkin pan   Squeeze individual garlic cloves out and add along with 1-2 chipotles and 1 tbsp sauce. (I used two and it was pretty spicy) 
5. Puree with stick blender until smooth
6. Turn heat down to medium low and cook 10 mins to warm through and allow flavors to meld
7. Serve with tortilla chips, plain yogurt and avocado.